Council rejects Cunnamulla fluoride plans

A south-west Queensland council says it will not be proceeding with fluoridation of Cunnamulla’s water supply.

Paroo Mayor Lindsay Godrey says it was a requirement of the former state government.

His community argued there was already naturally occurring fluoride in the artesian water supply and it was not cost-effective to spend a significant amount of money to add a small amount more.

Councillor Godfrey says he has had talks with Premier Campbell Newman and the council is happy to abandon the concept.

“We stressed that to the Premier, who insisted that we would not be compelled to go down the fluoridation path, because we haven’t begun the process and we haven’t spent any money on it yet, as they were the two points he bought up and if we hadn’t satisfied those, then we wouldn’t be compelled to proceed,” he said.

“It’s just that there is fluoride already in the bore water.

“We have anecdotal evidence that fluoride produces good dental results, our bore water produces good dental results, so the community as such don’t want an injection of further fluoride.

“For small communities, the infrastructure that is required makes the cost per head enormous.”